Let's begin our service opening
our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 7. Brother Eric Floyd is preaching
this morning in Rocky Mount, Virginia. We want to remember
him in prayers. He preaches and travels. Also, even though he's been here
so many times, it's almost old hat, but Jeffrey Imes is here
this morning. freshman at Morehead State University. I hope we're going to see a lot
of Jeffrey through the school year, the next four years. I
count him as one of us because his father and I grew up together.
I still count Dwayne as one of ours, but y'all be sure to watch
out for him. Alright, Hebrews chapter 7. We'll
begin our reading in verse 19. For the law made nothing perfect.
but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw
nigh unto God. And as much as not without an
oath he was made priest, for those priests were made without
an oath, but this with an oath, by him that said unto him, the
Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continued with effort, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Wherefore, he is able. He's able
also to save them to the uttermost, to come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth, to make intercession for them. We'll end our reading
there. All right, let's stand together
as Mike leads us in singing our call to worship. Blessed are the sons of God. They are bought with Jesus' blood. They are ransomed from the grave. Life eternal they shall have. With them numbered may we be,
now and through eternity. God did love them in his Son. Long before the world begun,
lay the seal of this receipt, when on Jesus they believed. With them numbered may we be
Now and through eternity. They are justified by grace,
Their dear Savior took their place. All their sins are washed
away. They shall stand in God's great
day with them numbered. May we be now and for eternity. Thank you, may be seated. Turn
to in your great hymns of faith to page 283, 283. Great thought
that our Lord is saying yesterday, today, and forever. Oh, how sweet the glorious message
simple faith may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful,
heal the sick and lame, Cheer the mourner, calm the tempest,
glory to his name. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name! He who purchased daring Peter,
Never needs thou fear. He who came to faithless Thomas,
All thy doubts will clear. He who let the locked disciple
on his bosom rest, Fits thee still with love as tender lean
upon his breast. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name All may change
but Jesus never Glory to His name He whom in the raging billows
walked upon the sea Still can hush our wildest tempers as on
Galilee He who wept and prayed in anguish in Gethsemane, Drinks
with us each cup of trembling in our agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never,
glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. As a bold he walked to Maias
with them to abide, So through all life's way he walketh ever
near our side. Soon again shall we behold Him,
Hey, Son, Lord, the day. But we'll still be this same
Jesus as He went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name! Glory to His name! Glory to His name! All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name! I'm back now to 268, 268. I'll offer my foundation, ye
Saints of the Lord, His lake for your faith, in His excellent
Word. What more can He say than to
you He has said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? Fear not, I am with thee, O be
not dismayed, For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters
I call thee to be, But rivers of woe shall not thee overflow. For I will be with thee, thy
troubles to bless and sanctify too. Thy deepest distress. When fiery trials Thy pathway
shall lie, My grace, all-sufficient, shall be Thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee,
I only design Thy cross to consume and thy gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not, desert to his foes. That soul, the loyal, Should
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. Let's open our Bibles, if you
would, to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, Timothy, our brother, unto the church
of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in Achaia.
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulations. that
we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the
comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as
the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether
we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation, And
our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers
of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. For
we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble,
which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure,
above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But
we have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead.
who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom
we trust that he will yet deliver us. He will end our reading there.
All right, let's bow together in prayer. Our father, we have met together
this morning to hear a word from thee. Father, I beg of thee that
you would Give us a word from you, from your heart to the preacher's
heart, to the heart of your people. Father, don't let us hear the
thoughts and ideas and doctrines of men, the ways of men, but
let us hear a word from you. Let us hear, thus saith the Lord. And Father, give us the faith
to do your word, to believe your word when we hear it preached,
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We've gathered here together
this morning with the desire to worship you, to have the name
of our Savior be lifted up and magnified. Father, I beg that
you send your spirit upon us. Enable us to worship you in spirit
and in truth. Don't let this just be another
of the countless religious meetings that we go through, but Father,
make this a worship service that we might worship in awe and reverence
to Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. What a Savior that you purpose
from all of eternity. What a Savior you sent to accomplish
the salvation of your people. What a Savior that we have to
preach and to believe, to rest upon. Father, enable us to exalt
his name. Let the name of Christ be preeminent
in everything that is said and done and thought about here this
morning. In what we pray for ourselves,
Father, we pray for all of your people who meet together today
to worship you. Bless your word, which priest.
We pray a special blessing in our brother, Eric, that you bless
him in preaching, that you give him and Abby traveling mercies
as they come back home to us. Father, we thank you for the
many blessings of this life, how richly that you've blessed
this congregation. We pray that you would forgive
us for the many times that we murmur and complain after all
you've blessed us with. We pray, Father, that you give
us the right attitude to have an open hand with all the blessings
that you've given to us. Do not be selfish. to give willingly,
just as you've given to us. And Father, while you've blessed
us, we do know and freely confess our utter and constant dependence
upon thee. In this flesh, we are a poor
and a needy people. And Father, we pray that you'd
bless those who need you particularly at this time, those who are sick
and heartbroken Sorrowing and great difficulty in deep waters,
Father, we pray you'd undertake on their behalf to heal and to
comfort. We pray that you'd be with Jackie
as she continues to recover from the surgery, that you'd be with
her and help her. We thank you for our new baby,
pray that you'd watch over him and give him health and life.
Father, that one day you'd be pleased to be merciful to him
as we pray for all of our children that you'd be merciful in thy
time. Again, Father, we pray your blessing
on this service. Forgive us for our much speaking
and we pray that you'd see us and hear us only in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Get glory to his name. It's in his blessed name we pray
and give thanks. you Children of the Heavenly Father,
Safely in His bosom gather, Nestling bird nor star in heaven, Such
a refuge e'er was given. God his own doth tend and nourish. In his holy courts they flourish. From all evil things he spares
them. In his mighty arms he bears them. Neither life nor death shall
ever from the Lord his children sever. Unto them his grace he shall
wed, and their sorrows all he knoweth. Though he giveth or he taketh,
God his children ne'er forsaketh. All right, if you would, open
your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. I read to you the verse that
would, I guess, be our text that brought me to Daniel chapter
6 from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 33, which says, Who through faith
subdued kingdoms, brought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions. The first thing I thought of
when I read that phrase, stop the mouth of lions, was Daniel
in a lion's den. And I've entitled the message
this morning, is your God able to deliver you? The God you trust
in, is he able to deliver you? Now, it was not the faith of
Daniel, faith itself that stopped the mouths of lions. That kind
of makes it sound like a Star Wars force field or something,
doesn't it? It wasn't his faith. It was the Lord Jesus Christ,
the object of Daniel's faith that stopped the mouths of lions
that delivered him from justice. And what I want us to see this
morning is Daniel as a type of Christ who stopped the mouths
of lions, who stopped justice from destroying his people. If
you and I would be delivered from God's justice against our
sin, we must believe the same Savior Daniel believed, the same
Savior who delivered Daniel from the lions must deliver us from
our sin. So the first thing here in Daniel
chapter 6 I want us to see, we need to see a description of
the Savior who we must believe, who we must bow to. Daniel 6
verse 1. It pleased Darius to set over
the kingdom 120 princes, which should be over the whole kingdom,
and over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that
the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should
have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred
above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was
in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Now, Darius set up a series of
rulers over his kingdom. This is a pretty wise way to
rule such a large kingdom. And each one of these different
rulers, princes and presidents, they had responsibility over
some section of Darius's kingdom. And they each had to answer to
someone higher up the ladder with more authority than they
did. And Daniel was sat at the top of the pyramid. Daniel only
answered to King Darius. If you wanted to get to Darius,
you had to go through Daniel. And that worked out very well
for Darius because of who Daniel is. Daniel ruled well. It was
good for Darius and it was good for the people of his kingdom
to have someone with such wisdom and faithfulness to rule over
them as Daniel. Now you see here, Daniel has
to be a type of Christ. The father set his son over all
of his kingdom, over all of his creation. The father has appointed
his son to be ruler over all. He's put all power, he's put
all judgment into the hand of his son. And if you want to go
to the father, the only way you can go to him is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only mediator between
God and men. And Darius wisely chose Daniel
to be over all of his kingdom because an excellent spirit was
found in Daniel. He looked at all the men and
he had choices to make. Daniel was the only option. Well,
that's our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only right choice to
be king. He's the only right choice to
be the savior and mediator of his people. It was the right
choice because an excellent spirit is found in An excellent spirit
is found in him because he's God. He has the Holy Spirit without
measure because he's God. And Darius had a purpose in this,
in setting up these princes and presidents over all of his kingdom.
It was so he'd have no damage. It was so all the parts of his
kingdom would be profitable for him. Well, the father put his
son over all of his kingdom for the exact same reason, so he'd
suffer no damage. So he'd suffer no damage to his
character. So he'd suffer no damage to his
reputation. So his people, the people in
his kingdom would suffer no damage. The father has set his son to
be in charge of it all. And he's going to be faithful
to rule well for the father's glory and for the good of his
people. Now, this is the savior the father
has appointed. How did he appoint him? How is
he described here? as king over all. And if we would
be saved, we must bow to this king. We must come to him and
beg him for mercy. This savior that the father has
set over his kingdom is sovereign. Sovereign. That means he can
have mercy on us or he cannot have mercy on us. He can withhold
it. And either way, he's right. Either way, he's right. That's
what sovereign means. Well, where does that leave you
and me? It leaves us dependent upon him. It leaves us begging
him for mercy. That's the Savior we must believe. Now second, here's the problem. There's no problem with this
King, with this Savior. There's a problem. The problem
is with you and me. Second thing we need to see here
is a description of man. This is a description of us by
nature, verse four. Then the presidents and princes
sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom,
but they could find no occasion or fault for as much as he is
faithful. Neither was any error or fault
found in him. Even though Daniel had an excellent
spirit in him, these other princes and presidents, they hated Daniel. They hated him. And Daniel didn't
bring this upon himself. He didn't make life more difficult
for them. He didn't lower his authority
over them. He tried to help them. He tried
to make their jobs easier. Daniel was always fair in his
dealings with people. He didn't use his authority to
make himself rich at the expense of others. Yet these other princes
and presidents, they hated Daniel. They just could not stand it. that one of these captured Jews
was reigning over them. They couldn't stand it. Well,
that's a mighty good picture of our nature, isn't it? Man
by nature is an ugly mess. We are dead in sin. In our refined day, I'm afraid
when we talk about somebody being dead in sin, we've got a too
pretty picture of that in our mind. Most of us, when we see
folks who are dead, they've been down to the funeral home. and
they've been embalmed, you know, the body doesn't look all that
offensive. That's not us. No, we're the body that's been
left out in the open sun to rot and to stink. And we are offensive
to everybody in sight. Everybody downwind, we're offensive. We're covered with wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores that haven't been bound up or
treated. And one of the clearest examples of our dead and stinking
sin nature is that we hate the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't hate
the Jesus we made up in our mind. We don't hate the Jesus that
men make a picture of that's just such an effeminate, weak
person he couldn't kill a fly. We hate the sovereign Lord Jesus
Christ who has every right to do with us as he will. We hate
the one who's come to give life to the dead. Now, we're dead. How utterly foolish is it for
us to hate the one who's come to give life to the dead? We
hate the one who's come to bind up the brokenhearted, the one
who has that balm of Gilead to heal all of our wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. And we hate him. We're full of
those wounds and bruises, but we hate him. He's the only one
who can heal us, but we hate him. We're the prisoner bound
by the law, bound by God's justice. He's come to set the prisoner
free, to open the gates and set the prisoner free, but we hate
him. And we'd rather try to find a
way to tunnel out of the prison than walk out the door free in
justice because we hate the Lord Jesus Christ. And like I said
a minute ago, the root of the matter is this. We don't hate
the miracle worker. We don't hate the one that gives
us a free lunch. The Lord said, I've done many wonderful, good
works. For which of these works do you
stone? We don't stone you for any good works. You can keep
healing folks. You can keep giving us a free lunch. You can keep
doing all that stuff. We hate you because you make yourself
to be God. We're going to try to kill you because we hate the
Savior we cannot control. That's why we hate him. We can't
get him to do anything for us. And the proof that we hate the
Lord Jesus Christ is this. We won't believe Him. We won't. We refuse to believe Him. And
you here this morning who believe Him, you know this. God made
you believe Him, didn't He? He gave you a nature that can't
not believe Him. God made you believe Him. And
until God makes you believe Him, you won't. And the reason we
won't believe Him is we don't think we need Him. We hate Him. That's our sin nature. If we
would love the Lord Jesus Christ, we'd come to Him. We'd believe
Him. But we hate Him without a cause. The Lord Jesus Christ is perfect. He's kind. He's gracious. We're sinners. Rebels. Separated
from God. This man receives sinners. and
he eats with them. He has fellowship with them.
But we will not come unto him that we might have life. And
the only reason for it is we don't think we're sinners. This
man receives sinners and eats with them, but I'm not coming
to him because I'm not a sinner. And you know what that is? That rebellion
to come to Christ, to believe him because he saved sinners.
You know what that is? It's calling God a liar. God
in his word says we're sinners. There's none righteous, no, not
one. And we refuse to come to Christ
to be saved from our sin. This is how serious a matter
that is. It's calling God a liar. We're just like the Pharisees
of 2000 years ago. We hate this man, Jesus of Nazareth. We're just not going to have
him reign over us. And we're going to find any way we can
to get rid of him. That's what these men did to
Daniel. but they couldn't find a fault in him. Just like men
couldn't find a fault in our Lord Jesus. Pilate tried his
best, didn't he? He said, I can't find any fault
in him. Well, of course you can't. He's not even acquainted with
sin, is he? But we still find it offensive
to bow to this Savior, to be forced to beg Him to have mercy
upon me. When we beg God for mercy, this
is what we're saying. I don't deserve it. I deserve
for you to send me to hell. That's what I deserve. That offends
our pride, doesn't it? That's what it is to beg for
mercy, and we find it offensive. We find it offensive that salvation
is all in Christ, everything that He's done, and we don't
contribute anything to it. Why would we hate that? The fault's
not in God, is it? It's not in God's purpose. The
fault is not in the Savior. The fault is in us. Our nature
is so dead and twisted, we hate the only one who can save us,
and we refuse to bow to him. We are a classic case of cutting
off our nose to spite our face, because we hate the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's man's nature. The third thing we need to see
is this. We need to see something about God's law. Verse five,
Daniel chapter six. Then said these men, we should
not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it
against him concerning the law of his God. And these presidents
and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto
him, King Darius live forever. All the princes of the kingdom,
the governors and the princes and the counselors and the captains
have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a
firm decree. that whosoever shall ask a petition
of any God or man for 30 days, save of thee, O King, he should
be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the decree,
sign the writing, that it be not changed according to the
law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore,
King Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now, see, these
other princes and presidents, they knew that to Daniel, the
only higher law than Darius was God. They knew that. They knew
Daniel would never do anything contrary to Darius's, to his
will, to his, you know, what would be best for him. They knew,
though, that Daniel would obey God first. And this is what they
thought. If we find a way to put Daniel
between Darius and God, where he's got to choose which one
of them to serve, which one of them to obey, they thought they'd
have Daniel right where they wanted him because they knew
he'd choose God. So they came up with this dumb law that made
it a crime for anybody to ask anybody for anything except Darius. And if you do that, if you ask
somebody for something, you're going to be thrown in the den
of lions. I mean, you think how stupid this is. A child couldn't
ask his mama for a glass of water. A wife couldn't do the classic
wife move and call her husband and say, can you pick up a loaf
of bread on the way home? If you do that, you're going to be thrown
in the den of lions. What a stupid law. But Darius, he fell for
it because of his pride. But here's the point. That law
could not be changed. It's in effect just for 30 days,
but it cannot be changed. The law of the Medes and Persians
could not be changed. Now, how is this a picture of
the law of God? The law of God, there's nothing wrong with it.
The law of God is just and holy and good. It would be best for
us and best for all of society if we'd all obey God's law. God's
law is good. So that's not like this law of
Darius signed. But the law of God is like this
law and this. It's like the law of the Medes
and the Persians. God's law cannot be changed. See, for God's law
to change, God has to change. God's immutable. He cannot change.
If the law of God is changed, God's gonna stop being God. So
it can't be changed. And you know the law that God
gave to Adam in the garden. It cannot be changed. It's still
in effect today. Do and live. Disobey and die. That law's still in effect. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. That's God's law. It cannot be
changed. So God does not require the best that we can do. God,
God doesn't care all, you know, as long as you're sincere, I
don't care that you, you know, don't do this very well. No,
God requires perfection. And where there's not perfection,
if there's just the slightest imperfection, God requires death
and God cannot change that law. He will not. And he cannot, if
God would change his law to make accommodation for you and me,
God would cease to be holy. He'd cease to be just. If God
would change His law, He'd cease to be God because He violated
His own character. If God changed His law, He wouldn't
have the moral superiority to rule anymore. Well, you see the
problem? Remember our nature? All we can do is break the law.
All we can do. We don't have a nature that even
desires to keep the law. So something's got to be done
with sin, doesn't it? Something's got to be done with
this broken law. The question is not a matter
of if or when we break the law. We already did it in Adam. So what's going to be done now
with this matter of sin? What's going to be done with
this matter of the broken law? The answer to that question is
going to determine our ultimate question. Is your God able to
deliver you? So the fourth thing we need to
see is this. We need to see Christ willingly made sin for his people.
Verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three
times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did
a four time. Now, when Daniel heard about
this law, he did what he always did. He prayed. But you'd think,
OK, now discretion is the better part of valor here. Let's at
least close the windows and the drapes, you know, before you
pray. I mean, you know, the windows don't have to be open for God
to hear you. The drapes don't have to be open for God to see you.
Let's just get in our closet and pray and everything will
be fine. But that's not what Daniel did. He threw his windows wide open.
He pulled those drapes all the way back. And he prayed so that
everybody could see just exactly what he was doing. Daniel, what
are you doing? I mean, it seems like you're
making yourself guilty on purpose here, doesn't it? It seems like
Daniel is demanding those men throw him in the den of lions.
So it seems like, isn't it? Well, he did that as a picture
because that is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for
his people. He was made sin for his people willingly. because
it's the only way their sin could be taken off of them if it was
put on Him. See, God cannot change His law.
Something's got to be done with that sin and the only way the
sin of His people could be taken off of them is if Christ was
willingly made sin for them. And when Christ was made sin,
God's justice now demand that He die and not His people. The only way the Holy Son of
God could die is if he was made guilty of the sin of his people. And he did it willingly. Now,
when Daniel did this, he put his friend, old King Darius,
in a real fix, didn't he? I mean, Darius has got a dilemma. Look here at verse 11. Then these
men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication
before his God. Then they came near and spake
before the king concerning the king's decree. Has thou not signed
a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God
or man within 30 days, save of thee, O king, should be cast
into the den of lions? The king answered and said, the
thing is true. According to the law of the Medes and Persians,
which altereth not. Then answered they and said before
the king, that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity
of Judah, he regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou
assign, but maketh his petition three times a day. But oh, then
the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with
himself, and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and
he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then
these men assembled under the king and said unto the king,
Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and the Persians is,
that no decree nor statute with which the king establisheth may
be changed. Now, Darius is in a fix. He loves
and respects Daniel. I mean, this man's the best of
all of his presidents, you know. He doesn't want to throw Daniel
to the lions. But if he doesn't throw Daniel
to the lions, he's going to lose his ability to be king. If he
doesn't throw Daniel to the lions, he's going to lose his authority
to enforce any law. So he's in a dilemma, isn't he?
And Darius is not wise enough to find a way out of this mess.
He set his heart on this and he could not find a way out. And Darius finally came to this
conclusion. Only God can deliver David. And
won't we tell you when you and I will be saved? We come to that
very conclusion. Only God can deliver us. When
we set our heart on finding a way to make righteous, when we find
our heart on setting a way to have our sin put away, we find
our heart and a way to be saved and we see there's not one except
one way, God's way in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only then will
we be saved. Look here at verse 16. Then the
king commanded and they brought Daniel and cast him into the
den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto
Daniel, thy God whom thou service continually, he will deliver
thee. And a stone was brought, laid upon the mouth of the den,
and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet
of his lord's, that the purpose might not be changed concerning
Daniel. Now, nobody could change the
law, could they? Nobody could stop Daniel from
suffering justice now. He's been thrown in that den.
A rock rolled in front of the door, the king sealed it with
his seal. The only way Daniel is going
to come out of that den of lions is if he's raised from the dead.
I mean, before they threw Daniel down near those lions, they starved
those lions. I mean, those are hungry lions. I mean, they're
wanting a meal. The only way Daniel's going to
come out of there is if he's raised from the dead. See the
picture? That's just like our sacred.
They took a dead body down from the tree and laid it in a tomb.
They rolled a giant stone in front of it, sealed it with their
seal. And the only way He's coming out of that tomb is if He's raised
from the dead. Right? That's sin. Willingly. Christ took it willingly. And
He suffered and died for it. Now here's my question. Is your
God able to deliver you? Is He? Christ took the sin of
His people away from Him. He suffered and He died for it.
So God's law now demands they live. That's how God delivers
His people. So here's my question to you and me. Is your God able
to deliver you? Everybody's got a God. Everybody's
got something they hope in. Is whatever it is you hope in
able to deliver you? And I guess I should add this
phrase. Injustice. In truth. Is he? Now the Father
elected a people. God the Father chose a people
to save. He set his heart, his love upon
them. But they're sinful people. Now,
God loves those people, but they're sinful people. And God has a
law that demands they die for their sin. But God chose to save
them. But His law demands they die.
But God chose to save them. See these two opposite things
here? Well, how can those people be set free from God's justice? How is their way they can be
delivered? If God ignores His law and His
justice, and He does not damn you for your sin, He's going
to cease to be God. He's going to cease to have the
ability to enforce any law. If God does not punish you for
your sin, He'll cease to be God. He won't be just. If God says,
well, you know, I see now that you can't keep my law, I'll just
accept the best that you can do. I'll accept imperfections
as long as this is your best, as long as you're sincere. But
if God does that, he's going to cease to be God. Because he
won't be holy. But if God says, these people,
I chose them, I set my love on them, but I'm going to damn them
because they've sinned. If God does that, he's going
to cease to be God. Because he won't be merciful.
He won't be true to his character. Then what's to be done here?
This is the question. What's to be done here? There
are no loopholes in God's law that allow somebody to slither
through unpunished. I'll tell you what that means.
God cannot show mercy at the expense of his justice. God cannot
forgive sin by ignoring it or not punishing it. You know, sometimes
we might forgive our children for doing something wrong and
not punish them, but that's not justice. That's not the way God
does things. If God's going to be God, He's
got to do both. If God's going to be God, He's
got to be just and merciful. If God's going to be God, He's
got to be both just and justifier. If God's going to be God, He's
got to both punish sin and forgive sin. Now, how can God do that? How can God do both of those
opposites? Punish sin and forgive sin? Is
God in a real fix like Darius was? Oh, no. God has the wisdom. He has wisdom Darius didn't have.
God can say, deliver them from going down to that pit. Deliver
them from going down in the den of lions. I found a ransom. And God found a ransom because
he provided the ransom. There's one way God can be just
and deliver you from your sin. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look here at verse 18. Then the king went to his palace
and passed the night fasting, neither were instruments of music
brought before him, and his sleep went from him. Then the king
arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den
of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable
voice unto Daniel. And the king spake and said unto
Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou servest continually, able to deliver you from the lions.
That's the same question I have. Is your God able to deliver you
from the lions? Now, poor old Darius, you know,
the night before he's telling Daniel, I think maybe he's just
trying to encourage Daniel, saying something he didn't really believe.
You're God. He'll deliver you. But now he's asking if. Is your God able to deliver you? Well, a better question would
have been, has the Lord been pleased to deliver you from the
lions? This I know. God's able. God's
able. Is he pleased? Is he pleased? I love that poor old leper that
came to our Savior and said, Lord, if you will, you make me
whole. I know you can. I know you're
able. Will you? Will you? And the gospel of God's grace
tells us God has been pleased to deliver his people, to save
his people from their sin. by, in, and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what happened to Daniel
that night. Look here at verse 21. Then said
Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent
his angel and has shut the lion's mouth that they have not hurt
me. For as much as before him innocency was found in me, and
also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Now, this angel
angel of the Lord that was sent to that den of lions, that angel
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a created being, Gabriel
or Michael or somebody. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was Christ who shut the mouths of those lions. That's what I
told you in the beginning of the message. It's not Daniel's
faith. It was the object of his faith that was there with him
in that den who shut the lion's mouth. Christ shut the lion's
mouth and kept them from destroying Daniel. Just like the Lord Jesus
Christ stopped justice, stopped God's justice from destroying
His people by suffering it for them. That's how Christ delivered
His people. He suffered justice for them.
But I thought, can you imagine this night Daniel spent down
there in the lion's den? I mean, if you threw me in the
den of lions, I'd be dead before I hit the ground. I mean, I'd
have a heart attack and die. I mean, I see those animals in
the zoo, I just think, Goodness! It sounds to me like that was
a dark and scary night, doesn't it? That stone roll in front
of the mouth, that sealed all light off, down there with all
the stench, the sound of those lions just breathing and moving
around us and whatever. But Daniel had no harm. He had peace and rest. Why? Why? Because Christ was with
him. Because he was in that den first. God has saved his people from
their sins. If you believe Christ, you already
know this. Your sin puts you in a lot of
dark, dark, dark, dark, scary places, doesn't it? Why aren't you destroyed? Why
won't you run away? Why don't you become apostate?
Because Christ is there with you. That's why. See, this isn't
just a feel-good story. This is a story of justice. Daniel said those lions did not
destroy him because innocence he was found in him. Daniel didn't
die because Daniel said, I'm not guilty. Well, how can that
be? We know good and well Daniel
was guilty. He did it for everybody to see. He prayed. He broke the
law, didn't he? How was he not guilty of breaking
the law of the Medes and Persians? Because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He stopped the mouths of the lions. Christ stopped the mouths
of God's justice from destroying his people by suffering for them. Now remember, God has a people
he chose to save, but they're sinful people. They're guilty
people. How can they be found innocent?
How can God in justice say they're not guilty? It's in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was made sin for his people.
He took their sin away from them and he made his people innocent. He made them righteous. Innocency
is found in me. And it's found in you too, if
you believe Christ. Now, it's not off me. It's not
something I produced. It's something God put in me,
in the new birth. Innocency is found in me because
Christ died in the place of his people. His death satisfied the
price. Justice demanded. The price has
been paid in our substitute. We can say, I was crucified with
Christ. I've already died to God's justice
in Christ. And now God's justice demands
I go free. God's people are innocent because
Christ made them innocent. And God's justice, His law cannot
be changed. Do and live. That cannot be changed. If Christ has made you innocent,
you'll have everlasting life. That law cannot be changed. But
it's all in Christ. You see that? When the Father
made His Son sin for His people, even the Father couldn't deliver
His Son from justice. He didn't want to. The father
wasn't in a dilemma, spending time trying to figure out how
can I deliver my son from justice. No, he didn't want to deliver
his son from justice. His holiness, his justice must
be satisfied. So the father killed his son
as a sacrifice for the sin of his people. And when Christ died,
God's justice is satisfied. Now, God can do both of those
two opposite things. He can forgive sin. and punish
sin at the same time because of the sacrifice of Christ. That's
how God can be both just and justifier because of the sacrifice
of his son. The sacrifice of Christ made
it just, made it right for God to show mercy to his people. And that's the only way we can
be delivered from our sin, in justice, if justice is satisfied. And that can only happen in Christ.
And now the son can say to his father, I haven't hurt you one
bit. I didn't suffer any harm. You
didn't either. I didn't suffer and it hurt your character one
bit. I've honored all your attributes,
your justice and your mercy. Holiness and grace all through
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ who died in the place
of his people. But now here's the sixth thing
we need to see. The resurrection of Christ. Verse 23, then was
the king exceeding glad for him. He's almost like Abraham, who
in a figure received Isaac from the dead. That's what Darius
is doing here. He's receiving Daniel in a picture and a type
of the dead. He expected him to be dead. The
king was exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should
take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of
the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he
believed in his God. Now remember how they sealed
that den of the lions, just like they sealed the Lord's tomb,
didn't they? And Daniel came out of that den of lions exactly
like the Lord came out of that tomb, with no sin. No sin. All that sin that had
been laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ had been put away by His
death. Now the death of Christ would
mean nothing without the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of
Christ, when He came out of that tomb, that's the evidence. His death, His sacrifice, His
blood justified all of His people, made them without sin. And the
resurrection of Christ is the guarantee. All of God's elect
are going to have eternal life. God's going to raise them from
the dead, give them spiritual life, because God's justice is
satisfied through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now justice
demands they be delivered. That's how God delivers his people,
in justice. But here's the seventh thing.
Sadly, we need to see this, that outside of Christ, justice demands
eternal death. In Christ, justice demands eternal
life. Outside of Christ, justice demands
eternal death. Verse 24, and the king commanded,
and they brought those men which had accused And they cast them
into the den of lions, them, the children, and their wives.
And the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones
in pieces wherever they came at the bottom of the den. See,
those lions did not eat Daniel because they weren't hungry.
They were so hungry, they jumped up and caught these people before
they ever hit the bottom and ate them alive. That's sad, but
you see the picture there. That's the eternal end of everyone
who's not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And lastly, we
have this conclusion, verse 25. Then King Darius wrote, unto
all people, nations, and languages that dwell in the earth, peace
be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, here's another
decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in
fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, and
steadfast forever, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be even unto the end, He delivereth and
rescueth. And he worketh signs and wonders
in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power
of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the
reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Now the
gospel of God's grace commands us to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that commandment to believe
Christ is to trust Christ. The trust that He is all it takes
to save us from our sins. The gospel is not an offer. It's not an offer. It's a commandment. It's a commandment to believe.
It's a commandment from God to believe on Christ. And it's not
a hard, mean commandment. I ask you, what can be more loving
than God commanding us to believe on the only Savior? so that we'd
have everlasting life. What could be more loving than
that? And there's no reason for us not to trust Christ. There's
no reason. Christ has proven himself to
be trustworthy. He's proven himself to be the
savior of sinners. There's not a sinner that's so
great Christ can't save them. He's proven himself to be able
to save the chief of sinners. He's already accomplished all
the work of redemption for his people. Now God's commandment
is you trust him. Trust. That's God's commandment.
You trust Him. And His promise is you'll be saved. That's His
commandment. So here's my question for us
this morning. Is our God able to deliver us from justice? Is
He? Are we trusting Christ to deliver
us? Are we? Or are we trusting something
else? We're all trusting something.
I mean, we're either trusting Christ or we're trusting our
works or we're hoping somehow, even though I don't know how,
it'll work out all right in the end. We're trusting something. Is what you're
trusting in able to deliver you? Is your God able? If you've got
to fight off the lions yourself, you're in a heap of trouble because
you can't do it. If you've got to satisfy justice
somehow on your own, make some sort of payment on your own,
you're in a heap of trouble because you've got nothing to pay. If
you've got to decide to accept Jesus, and you've got to decide
to not allow the lions to devour you, you're in a heap of trouble.
You don't have the power to decide. You don't have the power to stop
God's justice. If you've got to depend upon
an idol, I mean, it sounds really sweet, you know, you've got this
idol that's got no hands but your hands, got no feet but your
feet, no mouth but your mouth. It sounds really sweet, you know,
if you help him out, he'll save you. But if you're trusting on
an idol that's got no power but yours, you're in a heap of trouble. But if we're trusting the Lord
Jesus Christ, we've already been delivered. We've already been
delivered from the wrath to come. And I pray that the Lord be pleased
to give us that faith, faith in him. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
that you are able, able to deliver. able to deliver your people from
yourself, from your justice, and give us life and faith and
joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I say with
the leper of old, if you will, oh, if you will, you can make
us whole. Father, would you be pleased
to show mercy on us here this morning? Would you be pleased
to give us this gift of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Enable
us to look to him and rest in him who's already finished the
work of redemption for his people. Father, all these things we ask,
we do ask, we do ask for our good. Oh, we ask for our good,
that you'd be pleased to be merciful and deliver us. And we ask for
your glory. Father, would you get glory to
your name in saving your people here in this place. would you
get glory to your name in revealing Christ to us and in us. It's in His precious name we
pray and give thanks. Amen. I'll stand and sing. Page 201. Psalm 201. I'll sing the first and last
verse only. Tis the grandest theme through
the ages run, Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue, Tis
the grandest theme that the world has sung, Our God is able to
deliver thee, He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. Tis the grandest thing that the
tidings roll, To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul. Look to God in faith, He will
make thee whole, Our God is able to do. He is able to deliver
thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee.